ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – In a tightly contested regular season finale, the Bethel University men's basketball team came up just short to No. 4th-ranked Saint John's Saturday afternoon inside the Robertson Center, 73-66.

BU honored its six seniors prior to the contest for their time and dedication to the program. The Royals finish the regular-season 16-9 overall and 13-7 in conference play. Their attention turns to the MIAC Playoffs where they will be the No. 4 seed and host fifth-seeded Saint Mary's Tuesday evening inside the Robertson Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Senior Jack Jenson shined with 14 points and a pair of assists. Juniors Chandler Wellman and Isaiah Carver-Bagley each chipped in 13 while Wellman snagged six boards and Carver-Bagley four. Jamal Davis and Granger Kingland each finished with nine points respectively. Kingland finished out the stat sheet with seven boards while Davis added a pair of blocks.

Things were looking up following a Kingland 3-pointer, a block by Jenson on the other end and a layup from Jenson giving Bethel a 62-61 advantage with 2:52 remaining. A resilient Johnnies team, who claimed a share of the MIAC title, came back hitting back-to-back 3-pointers putting BU down four with 30 seconds remaining.

A driving Jenson with 22 seconds was called for an offensive foul giving SJU the opportunity to seal it at the charity stripe. Until the final seconds, the Royals trailed by no larger than five in the contest.

Despite leading for 9:33 of the first half, BU came up trailing by one at the break coming up empty from 3-point range and shooting 44 percent from the field.

For the game Bethel shot 50.9 percent (27-for-53) from the floor and held the Johnnies to 45.6 percent (26-for-57). BU held the advantage inside 48-36 while the SJU connected on second chance points, 13-6.